U.S. patent number 6,858,281 [Application Number 10/386,468] was granted by the patent office on 2005-02-22 for water retaining golf towel.
Invention is credited to Dongon Kim.
United States Patent |
6,858,281 |
Kim |
February 22, 2005 |
Water retaining golf towel
Abstract
A novel golf towel, retaining water over four hours under an
average weather for golfing, is comprised of; 1) an outer layer of
Terry cloth made of a composite texture of: including but not
limited to, cotton, polyester and polyimide; 2) an inner layer of
porous hydrophilic polymer; and 3) a grommet for a holding means.
The outer layer of the Terry cloth and the inner layer of thr
porous hydrophilic polymer are cut into a similar size and stitched
together to prevent a separate moving. The structure and the
compositon of materials of the textile for the outer layer cloth
combined with the porous structure of the inner layer show
excellent longer water retaining time while maintaining softness
and cleaning power of an average towel. Amount of water remained in
the towel of this invention and that of two 100% cotton towels
measured at 30 minutes' time interval reveals a much slower
evaporation of water from the towel of this invention. Even after
four hours' exposure to sunlight and winds, the towel of this
invention holds 10% of the water impregnated in the towel. A 100%
cotton towel releases all the water after 90 minutes at the same
condition.
Inventors: |
Kim; Dongon (Los Angeles,
CA) |
Family
ID: |
33516867 |
Appl.
No.: |
10/386,468 |
Filed: |
March 12, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
428/95; 15/118;
15/209.1; 428/102; 428/137 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47K
10/02 (20130101); A47L 13/16 (20130101); B32B
5/18 (20130101); B32B 5/24 (20130101); B32B
3/26 (20130101); A63B 57/60 (20151001); Y10T
428/23979 (20150401); Y10T 428/24322 (20150115); B32B
2262/14 (20130101); B32B 2307/728 (20130101); Y10T
428/24033 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
A47L
13/16 (20060101); A47K 10/02 (20060101); A47K
10/00 (20060101); B32B 003/06 () |
Field of
Search: |
;428/99,85,92,102,137,95
;15/118,209.1,244.3 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
5671498 |
September 1997 |
Martin et al. |
|
Primary Examiner: Thomas; Alexander S.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Oak; Eugene
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A novel golf towel for retaining over 8% of the original water
impregnated in the towel over four hours at environmental
conditions of 25 to 32.degree. C., air humidity less than 30% and
under sunlight, which is comprised of; 1) an outer layer of terry
cloth made of a composite texture of 75 wt % cotton, 24 wt %/o
polyester and 1 wt % polyimide and having terry of 2 mm length and
1 mm thickness with surface population density of 100 each/1
cm.sup.2 ; 2) an inner layer of porous hydrophilic polymer having a
thickness 3 mm, apparent density 0.1 g/cc and an average pore
diameter of 0.2 mm; and 3) a grommet for a holding means.
2. The novel golf towel of claim 1, wherein the outer layer of
terry cloth and inner layer or porous hydrophilic polymer are cut
into similar sizes and stitched together to prevent separate
movings.
Description
This invention relates to a golf towel that retains water for a
long time, i.e., four hours, which is an average time for one
18-hole rounding.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In spite of many golf ball washing tools of the prior art, today's
amateur golfers prefer to carry just a simple towel for washing
golf balls during the game. However, an average cotton towel dries
within two hours. Golfers need to get out of the course to wet
their golf towels. It may break the rhythm of the golfing. It is
the purpose of this invention to provide a towel retaining water
more than four hours to let the golfers concentrate more on their
play only.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a golf towel having an inner layer for
containing water in its pore structure and an outer layer releasing
the water to the air.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ARTS
U.S. Pat. No. 2,530,746 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,968,825 to Wethebry
illustrate a golf ball cleaner in a shape of a pocket comprised of
a water absorbing inside layer, and a waterproof outer layer. Water
remains in the pocket for a long time. To clean golf ball the
player should open the mouth of the pocket and insert the ball into
the pocket. User has to turn over the pocket to remove dirt
remaining inside and has to do laundry and dry for the next play.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,226,827 to English, Jr. illustrates a golf towel,
having a first dry cleaning surface and a second moisturized
cleaning element 22 in a pocket 18. The pocket 18 is partially open
and a non-permeable polyethylene film blocks the water in
moisturized element 22 from permeating to the first dry layer 12.
Golf ball should be inserted into this pocket to be cleaned.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,408,718 to Sadovsky, U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,532 to
Wells illustrates, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,671, 498 to Martin et al.
illustrate cleaning/scrubbing device with an inner layer of porous
polymeric material with an outer layer of woven synthetics. These
are basically cleaning solution absorbed scrubbers, drying of the
absorbed solution was not being of any concern.
None of the prior art controls the drying of the towel as in this
invention for a desired time period. Just wash and dry, like a
normal towel, is enough to maintain the present invention clean and
odor free.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A novel golf towel, retaining water over four hours under an
average weather for golfing, is comprised of: 1) an outer layer of
Terry cloth made of a composite texture of, including but not
limited to, cotton, polyester and polyimide; 2) an inner layer of
porous hydrophilic polymer; and 3) a grommet for a holding means.
The outer layer of the Terry cloth and the inner layer of a porous
hydrophilic polymer are cut into a similar size and stitched
together to prevent a separate moving. Perimeter of the towel is
concealed with the outer layer Terry cloth. The structure and
composition of materials of the textile for outer layer cloth
combined with the porous structure of the inner layer show
excellent water retaining time while maintaining softness and
cleaning power of an average towel. The amount of water remained on
the towel of this invention and two 100% cotton towels are measured
at 30 minutes time interval reveals a much slower evaporation of
water from the towel of this invention. Even after four hours'
exposure to sunlight and winds, the towel of this invention holds
10% of the water impregnated in the towel. Meanwhile, a 100% cotton
towel releases all the water after 90 minutes at the same
condition.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an exploded isomeric view of the golf towel of this
invention.
FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the towel along the line
A--A.
FIG. 3 is a graph showing the change of weight of towel plus water
as time elapses.
FIG. 4 is a graph showing the change of wt % of water remaining in
the towel as time elapses.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 is an exploded isomeric view of the golf towel of this
invention (1). The towel is shaped in long square looks like
average cotton towel. A grommet (2) is developed at the corner of
the towel (1) for hang the towel to the waist belt of a player. The
outer layer (3) is made of Terry cloth made with filaments of
cotton, polyester and polyimide. FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view
of the towel along the line A--A. The top surface of the outer
layer (3) is covered with short Terry (4) of 2 mm length and 1 mm
thickness. The surface population density of the terry is 100
each/cm.sup.2.
The inner layer is a porous sponge of apparent density in the range
of 0.01 g/cc to 0.1 g/cc. Thickness of the inner layer (5) is in
the range of 1 mm to 5 mm. The inner layer and the outer layer are
stitched (6) to prevent a separate moving. Perimeter (7) of the
upper outer layer and lower outer layer of the towel is sealed with
a mechanical sewing.
Experiment
Drying velocity of the golf towel of this invention is compared
with two kinds of 100% cotton towels with different thicknesses.
Sample No. 1 and Sample No. 2 is 100% cotton towel of 3 mm
thickness, 5 mm thickness, respectively. Sample No. 3 is a golf
towel of this invention which has total a thickness of 7 mm.
Samples are prepared with the same size of 9 inches by 17 inches.
Weights of dried samples are measured and are wet with water for 30
minutes. Three samples are exposed to the same atmosphere and
conditions of; 1) 14:00 hr to 18:00 hr strong sunlight with mild
wind at 32.degree. C., air humidity less than 30%; 2) 08:00 hr to
12:00 hr mild sun light, air humidity less than 30%, 27.degree. C.
Total weight of each samples are measured in 30 minutes' interval.
The results are summarized in Table. 1. While samples 1 and 2 are
dried within 3 hours irrespective of the temperature, the sample 3
contains water for more than four hours.
TABLE 1 Change of the Weight of the Water Soaked Towels Weight (g)
Sample Dry Wetted 0.5 hrs 1 hrs 1.5 hrs 2 hrs 2.5 hrs 3 hrs 3.5 hrs
4.0 hrs 1.sup.st Test* No. 1 50 230 140 100 70 50 50 50 50 50 No. 2
60 280 180 140 90 68 66 60 60 60 No. 3 90 480 300 270 210 190 160
144 130 120 2.sup.nd Test** No. 1 50 230 140 110 80 60 50 50 50 50
No. 2 60 280 170 140 100 75 63 60 60 60 No. 3 90 490 320 290 260
240 228 190 176 140 Sample No. 1; 100% cotton towel 3 mm thickness.
Sample No. 2; 100% cotton towel 5 mm thickness. Sample No. 3; Golf
towel of this invention. *1.sup.st Test condition; Strong sun
light, air humidity less than 30%, from 2 P.M. to 6 P.M. **2.sup.nd
Test Condition; Mild sun light, air humidity less than 30%, from 8
A.M. to 12 A.M.
FIG. 3 is a graph showing the change of weight of towel plus water
as time elapses for the 1st test. Within two hours, the rate of
weight decrease, in other words, the drying rates of the samples
are similar. Sample No. 2, the thicker cotton towel, shows faster
drying than the thinner one, Sample No. 1. After two hours, the two
samples of 100% cotton towels returns to their dry state. However,
the Sample No. 3, the golf towel still releases water even after
four hours.
FIG. 4 is a graph showing the change of wt % of water remaining in
the towel as time elapses. As seen in FIG. 4, about 50% of the
water impregnated in the samples evaporated in 30 minutes. The two
samples of 100% cotton towels, Sample No. 1 and No. 2, loose about
half of the water in every 30 minutes and reaches 0% after two
hours. The Sample No. 3, the golf towel of this invention, looses
the water very slowly. Even after 4 hours later, the golf towel
retains about 10% of the original water.
As illustrated above, the water retaining time is adjusted by
controlling; 1) the thickness and average pore diameter of the
inner layer (5); 2) the composition of the materials of the outer
layer (3); and the structure of the filament for textile of the
outer layer (3).
The best mode of this invention is to use: 1) sponge of 3 mm
thickness with an average pore diameter of 0.2 mm; 2) 75% cotton,
24% polyester and, 1% of polyimide comprised of the material of the
outer layer (3); and thickness of the filament of polyester and
polyimide composite is 30 micrometer. The height and thickness of
the short Terry (4), on the outer layer (3) surface are, 2 mm and 1
mm, respectively.
* * * * *